(Thursday, October 30, 2025)
When eating our delicious lunch today at Wise Acre, Tom asked me a lot of questions about my aphasia, my semantic dementia. We talked about his blood cancer, too, which is in remission. Then he told me that he also has aphasia, a different brain diagnosis than mine, but with some similar, frustrating memory issues. It is called cerebral small vessel or microvascular disease, or white matter disease.
(Thursday, October 30, 2025)
Today when Tom and I were at his car, grabbing some warm items he needed for our bike ride, I saw an old man open the door to the house at our right, letting in the striped cat I had met last week at the Patina store. The woman at the shop explained to me that the big neighborhood kitty laying next to the cash register would often visit them. After Tom and I ate at Wise Acre, we went to a short trip to Tangletown Gardens. One of the gardeners told us about the cat who had recently arrived and is now living at the store. All of the employees are voting on what to name their animal friend.
(Thursday, October 30, 2025)
Today I spent hours with my cousin Tom, biking and hearing his stories about the history of the Kenny and Tangletown neighborhoods. When he visited my mother’s 90th birthday party, I asked him: “Do you remember what Winona means?” He did not, so I said, “The first-born daughter. That is me.” He then combined my grandkids’ names into Wyn-Oona, which sounds nearly like Winona. Now he often calls me Winona.
